


Charles Darwin and The Doctor

by orphan_account



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms
Genre: Rose Tyler - Freeform, charles darwin - Freeform, doctor who - Freeform, just a cute story, mickey smith - Freeform, no shipping really, tenth doctor - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-27
Updated: 2014-05-27
Packaged: 2018-01-26 18:39:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1698554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor, Rose and Mickey visit the HMS Beagle (not really any shipping, just a story)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Charles Darwin and The Doctor

_Journal entry 20 th April 1835:_

_Today, Captain FitzRoy found three stowaways on the HMS Beagle. We have no idea how they got here. After weeks of the voyage, they never showed themselves but now they have been found just wandering around on deck. Goodness knows where they were hiding._

_They introduced themselves as John Smith, Rose Tyler and Mickey Smith._

_The girl, Rose, turned up with bare legs and arms! I have covered her up in some spare men’s clothes. She looks quite a sight, not wearing a dress, but at least the woman isn’t walking around bare._

_One of them tried to explain that they landed here in a box, lost on their way to somewhere called “Poosh”. None of us are sure what to believe, but they look fairly harmless._

_Rose kept whispering to John things like “Is that really him?” which seemed very odd but I decided to ignore it._

_We have agreed to keep them on board until we find land, as long as they do some kind of work._

_John, Rose and Mickey agreed to our terms and are keeping to themselves so far, just walking about._

_Journal entry 21 st April 1835:_

_John showed me the box he arrived in today, it was in the hold._

_The box was real enough – but I can’t bring myself to believe that it magically flew through the sky and appeared in this tiny room. John insists that it is the truth, although he won’t let me go inside the box to see how it works._

_When I had been left by John and was alone, I went back down to the box and tried to open the door. It was locked and I didn’t want to damage John’s box so I left it alone. There were tiny windows on the doors that I tried to look into. They were either very thick glass or false windows because I could not see inside apart from a white glow._

_I studied the exterior of the box for quite a few minutes before leaving it. I found no other visible ways of entry._

_One thing really did not make any sense to me at all – the box was barely big enough to fit the three of them inside, let alone a whole engine (although, that is only an issue if I really am to believe that this box can move)._

_Journal entry 22 nd April 1835:_

_Land is far away on the horizon. Mickey saw it last night just as the sun was setting. We should arrive at some point today._

_There are several separate islands in a cluster; from where we are it must be the Galapagos Islands._

_I am hoping to be able to write up some more notes about the creatures on these islands. Many people know of the animals but I hope to be able to examine them further than ever before._

_Journal entry 22 nd April 1835:_

_We are about an hour away from the shore of the closest island. Earlier, I was just going into my cabin when I found John snooping about. I had been hoping to read through some of my previous notes before we stopped, but now I am curious about “John”. I am going to spend some of my time finding out what he’s up to – what with his big blue box and his “scanner-ey thing”._

***

Charles walked down into his cabin to find the Doctor rushing around with the sonic screwdriver in his hand, scanning at different objects he found.

“What’s that?!” Charles shouted. He stayed where he was, not moving any closer to the mysterious stick in the Doctor’s hand.

Upon hearing Charles, the Doctor whipped around and shoved the sonic into his blazer pocket.

“It’s a – um – sort of scanner-ey thing that does some helpful stuff. It has some uses that it does with the power of timey-wimey-energy stuff.” The Doctor said vaguely

“You’re not called John Smith, are you?” Charles asked suspiciously.

“Well...” The Doctor shrugged his shoulders, “Not really.”

“Who are you then?” Charles eyed the Doctor accusingly.

“I’m the Doctor,” he said, turning back to Charles’ notes and flicking through them.

“Doctor who exactly?” Charles wondered out loud.

“That,” the Doctor turned around and put his hand on Charles’ shoulder, “Is for me to know. You just call me Doctor. Now! Where are you up to? Got anything about apes yet?”

“As a matter of fact, yes, yes I do. I haven’t said anything about it to anybody, you know, what with religion and all that kind of thing – but you, you seem like the right person to talk to,” Charles eyes lit up the moment he started to respond to the Doctor’s question. He had begun talking so passionately that even though he now knew what he wanted, the Doctor couldn’t help but let him continue.

“Now, although it is rather unheard of, I believe we, as people, grew from apes. It’s quite hard to grasp, and at the moment I don’t have much evidence to go on. But look at it!”

While talking, Charles had rushed past the Doctor and pulled one of his notebooks out of a drawer. He flipped through pages and pages of notes until he found what he was looking for, holding it up for the Doctor to see.

On the page were many drawing of apes and various diagrams of human anatomy. There was scribbled writing all around the drawings.

Of course, this was nothing new to the Doctor, but to maintain the illusion of being from that time period, the Doctor made his best intrigued-go-surprised face at what he saw.

“Oh! Charles! This is amazing. Absolutely brilliant! Oh – I could kiss you!” the Doctor exclaimed, reading the notes at the side.

Much of what Charles had come up with must have been lost over the years. Information that was only discovered hundreds of years later was sat as theories right before the Doctor’s eyes.

“I would rather you did not,” Charles laughed.

_Journal entry 23 rd April 1835:_

_We came to shore in the late afternoon yesterday._

_The Doctor decided that we should go out onto the islands soon as possible. He said that it would be a more efficient way of finding things if we split off into pairs and went exploring. I barely know that man at all yet for some reason I feel as if I can completely trust him. The Doctor just has a very trustworthy nature about him._

_It was decided that I would explore with Rose and the Doctor would go with Mickey. The other members of the crew paired up between themselves and Captain FitzRoy was to stay on board and look after the ship._

_We found something on that island. Rose spotted it first, as she walked ahead of me. It was just as dark was falling and we were just ready to turn back and return to the Beagle for the night._

***

After two hours of wandering around the first island, the two pairs bumped into each other. They decided to take a short break and then continue exploring together as a four.

Rose and Mickey sat down and chatted together while Charles showed the Doctor his notes on the three new species he had discovered so far. After a couple of minutes, the Doctor asked him:

“Noticed any tortoises?”

“Not any new ones as of yet,” Charles looked thoughtful, “Although, I think I may have picked up on some strange behaviour of some of the tortoises on the island.”

“And what would that be?”

“Well, for some reason, some of the tortoises on this island get their food from high up vegetation, craning their longer necks. And some of the tortoises eat their food from much lower growing plants; rather than all of the tortoises eating from the same plant. It’s very unusual.”

“You know, I think you might be onto something there. Maybe you should look into that.” The Doctor told Charles, looking very pleased with what he had just heard. “I think it would be worth writing that down in your notes.”

Just then, Rose and Mickey walked up to them.

“Doctor, it’s gonna start getting dark soon. Should we be setting off again?” Mickey asked the Doctor.

“Yes, but only for a while, then we best start heading back to the ship,” the Doctor replied, “Allonsy!”

They walked around in a random direction for a while, every so often Charles stopping them so he could take note of something he noticed.

After about half an hour there was a shout.

“Doctor!” Rose called out from behind a bush that was in front of the rest of them. She had only walked ahead for a couple of seconds before she shouted out.

“What is it?” Mickey ran past Charles and towards Rose’s voice, worried that she was hurt.

When they had run past the bush, they saw that there was a large dome shaped room there. It was about seven meters tall and the same wide. The exterior was made of mirrors and there seemed to be no windows or doors so they couldn’t see inside.

“Good god! What is that thing?” Charles exclaimed, “Doctor? Doctor, what is it?”

“We need to go.” The Doctor told him firmly. Rose and Mickey immediately started to leave but Charles stayed put.

“No.” he said defiantly, “I am not going anywhere until you tell me what that thing is.”

“Charles, I promise you that I will explain later, but you need to run! Right now! We have to go.” Charles still didn’t leave. He started to walk towards the dome. When Charles was stood next to it, he lifted his head up and pressed his ear to the side of it. Within less than a second, there was a loud bang from inside and a hissing noise.

Charles suddenly backed away and scampered off to where Rose and Mickey were standing, back around the other side of the bush. The Doctor ran in seconds later and stood next to them.

“Run.” He said. Rose and Mickey started running back in the direction of the HMS Beagle.

Charles remained where he was and asked: “What was that?”

“I said _run_.” The Doctor put his hands on Charles’ shoulders and repeated. Then he started running, leaving Charles no choice but to follow him and remain curious.

As he was chasing after the others, Charles silently told himself that he would go back later to investigate.

The group came to a slow when they reached the shore and the ship was in sight.

“Okay, so what was that thing?” Rose asked the Doctor, slightly out of breath.

“That was an Ood ship. They’re a fairly peaceful race but they don’t like to feel threatened. Those noises we heard probably weren’t harmful, but were some kind of warning to try to scare us away.” The Doctor explained; he was using the word Ood as if everyone knew what Oods were, almost forgetting that Charles barely even believed that the TARDIS could fly, “Who knows why they’re here. Maybe they fancied a holiday. Oh well. Best leave them to it really.”

“I don’t understand. Are the Ood some kind of tribe or something? Was that their boat?” Charles asked, confused even more by the explanation.

“No. Weeeeell - sort of actually. Yes. Yes - If that makes it easier to understand.”

“Hang on; even we don’t know what Ood are.” Mickey told the Doctor.

“You three might not, but I do. I’ve never really seen them for a long time, but from what I know, they won’t try to hurt us unless they are provoked.”

“Yes, but what exactly are they?” Charles asked.

“It doesn’t matter. Just don’t disturb them.” the Doctor insisted.

Rose sighed, “To be honest, I don’t really care. I’m hungry.”

“Well it’s a good job the ship is just there then,” the Doctor said, nodding his head forward, “and I think the captain has made some tea. However, before we join the rest of the crew, I need to ask you not to tell them anything about what we found today.”

_Journal entry 23 rd April 1835:_

_Today I stayed in my cabin and wrote more extensive notes on the new creatures I found yesterday. The Doctor and Rose went to the next island in a rowing boat to explore that area. I asked the Doctor to write up notes on anything he found there and sent him off with some paper._

_Mickey stayed with me and tried to read some of my notes. He didn’t quite manage it – no offence to the man, but he isn’t exactly the brightest._

_When Rose and the Doctor returned to the ship they said there was another of those ships on the next island too._

_Journal entry 24 th April 1835:_

_Last night my curiosity got the better of me.  When I was trying to get to sleep, all I could think off were the Ood. I needed to know who they were. They could perhaps even teach me something about the creatures here._

_I decided to get dressed, go out onto the first island we visited, and talk to the Ood. There could be no harm in that – after all, the Doctor said they are peaceful unless provoked, and I was not planning on provoking them._

_When I found the dome room, I knocked on the side of it. Then I stepped away for safety. The bang and the sound of hissing came again. This time, I stayed where I was and waited to see what happened next._

_The hissing stopped, but then there was another quick hiss and suddenly the completely smooth and crack-less mirror sprouted a door. Some steps dropped down from the dome and someone stepped out._

_It was an extraordinary creature – like a grotesque human._

_It was strangely beautiful with its ugliness. At special request of the Doctor, I’m not allowed to draw a diagram or write extensive notes about the Ood’s appearance._

_At this point I could have sworn I heard the Doctor shout my name from on the ship, having just realised that I was missing from my bed._

_The Ood started to walk towards me. I felt slightly scared and was tempted to run – but it didn’t look like it wanted to hurt me._

_It completely fascinated me. Its face was very oval shaped, its eyes were very angular and it had no nose that I could see. I could not see a mouth, and where one should have been was a mass of rubbery tentacles. Coming from underneath the tentacles was a tube with some kind of glowing sphere on the end of it. It held the ball in its hand._

_The Ood looked at me and squinted for a minute – then I heard a very faint humming noise. It seemed to be coming from the Ood. The more I concentrated on listening, the more it sounded like singing. It was completely tuneless and wordless singing; but undeniably beautiful music nonetheless._

_The next thing I knew, the Doctor came running next to me._

_“Hello,” He said, “are you alright?”_

_After that the Ood’s singing became louder and the Doctor began nodding as if he understood every noise. Then the singing stopped and the Doctor stared into the Ood’s eyes for a few moments._

_They seemed to be having some form of secret silent conversation that I was not involved in._

_“Thank you.” A calm and kind sounding voice sounded from the glowing sphere that the Ood held._

_After speaking, the Ood walked back into its dome-ship. The Doctor quickly told me that the Ood had explained to him that a squad of its ships had broken down on these islands. I was told to go back to the ship by myself, as the Doctor had agreed to help fix the ships. Before he walked into the Ood ship, the Doctor told me that the Ood had told him that he says hello._

_Journal entry 24 th April 1835:_

_This afternoon, I suddenly fell extremely ill. The crew sent the Doctor to come and examine me in my cabin – they had not realised that he was not actually medically qualified and just had the name Doctor._

_The Doctor used his scannery stick on me and told me that I must have picked up some kind of illness from my interaction with the Ood. He said it was short term and should clear up within a few days with enough sleep and a good amount of fresh air._

_The Doctor said that the rest of the crew were to be told I had caught a tropical illness to stop too many questions._

***

“How much did you tell him?” Rose asked the Doctor when he left the cabin.

“I said that he picked up something from the Ood – that much is true. I lied a little about the severe-ness of if. I said it is short term.” The Doctor replied sadly.

“How bad is it actually?” Rose prompted him.

“At the least it will end up making him a semi-invalid for the rest of his life.” The Doctor continued, “But there was no need to upset him, it won’t properly do anything to Charles for months so he will be able to enjoy the rest of his voyage and get himself examined properly in England.”

***

 “We’re going to have to leave you soon.” The Doctor told him sadly, “but, I have something to show you

“I’ve got a surprise for you, Charles.” The Doctor told him from next to the TARDIS.

“What is it?” Charles asked, trying to suppress his excitement.

“Well, it is three surprises. The first is that not only can my box fly; it can also travel in time. The second is that my box is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. That way it’s not too much of a squash in there.” Seeing the disbelieving look on Charles’ face, the Doctor opened the door to the TARDIS. After letting Charles gawp at what he saw inside the TARDIS, the Doctor walked inside and leaned against the doorway. “The third is that I am going to let you come with me in my box for a trip to see something spectacular.”

“What is the something spectacular?” Charles asked, still looking amazedly at the interior of the TARDIS.

“That’s the surprise. Come and see!” The Doctor held out his hand to Charles, who immediately grabbed it and hopped inside.

Rose and Mickey were already stood inside, leaning against the console where the Doctor ran over to when he had shut the door behind Charles. He started running around pulling different leavers and pressing buttons in quick succession.

“What is all this?” Charles asked, completely and utterly confused by it all.

“It’s very clever stuff that you don’t need to know about. These are controls for flying the good ship TARDIS, except the TARDIS flies through all of space and time, not just the sea.”

“B- but that’s impossible,” Charles stuttered out.

“Oh, Charles, nothings impossible,” the Doctor winked and pulled down the main lever, making the TARDIS jerk into motion.

Charles grabbed onto the rail and only just managed to stay upright. Rose giggled at him and Mickey rushed over to check if he was okay. The groaning noise of the TARDIS started and seemed to soothe Charles slightly. He managed to stand up and gave Mickey a weak smile.

Just as soon as it had started moving, the TARDIS lurched to a stop.

“Look outside, Charles.” The Doctor smiled at him.

Charles slowly stood himself up and walked to the door. He opened it and looked outside. Charles did a couple of double takes before turning to the Doctor and saying:

“We’ve moved.”

“Of course we’ve moved – I wasn’t lying you know.” The Doctor walked next to Charles and continued, “Look outside, Charles. There’s someone I think you might like. You can’t leave this box or talk to them though.”

Charles looked outside again and slowly took in his surroundings. Then he focused on someone in the corner of his eye – a caveman.

***

Because the Doctor had told him to get lots of fresh air, Charles was sat on the deck when he wrote up his notes about cavemen, apes and humans. He had the most recent pages of his journal next to him for reference.

As he was writing, a sudden wind came. Charles only had time to grab his current notes and the journal pages got blown away and over the side of the HMS Beagle.

The papers dropped into the sea and were sodden apart by the waves almost instantly.

 

 


End file.
